Sewanee Tigers: The greatest team in college football history

Football might not be the most celebrated extra-curricular activity on campus now, but to this day Sewanee holds the title as having the best team in college football history.

Monday, November 6th 2017, 8:31 am EST by John Martin

Updated:

Monday, November 6th 2017, 10:20 am EST

Sewanee, The University of the South, is a small Episcopal University on the Cumberland Plateau. The current enrollment sits just below two thousand students.

Football might not be the most celebrated extra-curricular activity on campus now, but to this day Sewanee holds the title as having the best team in college football history.

"People around here still talk about the 1899 football team,” explained Athletic Director, Mark Webb. “It certainly marks a special spot in the history and the lure of Sewanee athletics, or the University of the South, and in college football."

The Tigers of 1899 went a perfect 12-0. In fact, the team only gave up a total of 10 points the entire season. Those 10 points were in allowed in an 11-10 victory over the Auburn Tigers. Those Tigers were coached by John Heisman, the namesake of the Heisman Trophy.

"I will mention this for what it's worth, we do have a winning record over Auburn University, six and three,” joked Webb. “And we'll hold that record because we're never, ever going to play Auburn again."

But the title as best team in college football history wasn’t just earned from their near shut-out record, but for an improbable road trip. The Tigers boarded a train and played five games in just six days. They defeated Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, LSU and Ole Miss by a combined score of 91-0.

"Five games in six days from Texas to Louisiana to Mississippi, Memphis,” recalled Webb. “ And we came back undefeated which was absolutely remarkable and it's something that will never, ever happen again."

It was a mid-season train ride into the history books. The small, liberal-arts school on the Cumberland Plateau became the greatest team in college football history.